Why you see so many moving trucks in Austin, according to new report

If you’re stuck in traffic on MoPac, honk and say hello to your new neighbors coming from all across the country.

Austin is ranked as the No. 2 growth city in the U.S. for populations over 50,000, according to a new survey of migration trends by U-Haul. These rankings are calculated by the “net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving a state during a calendar year.”

As companies such as Toyota, Apple and Amazon create more jobs in Texas, the state has attracted many transplants from around the country, the moving company said.

“Everything in Texas is growing exponentially,” said Zane Rowland, U-Haul Co. of North East Dallas president. “Our market is strong. Lots of major companies are moving to Texas because of the tax breaks. Between the low cost of living, the abundance of job opportunities and the ability to start a business, many people want to move to Texas.”

The good news about Austin dovetails nicely with the state-by-state U-Haul survey, which shows that Texas is the top destination for movers in 2016. Arrivals outpaced departures 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent in the Lone Star state. This was quite a change from 2015, U-Haul says, when Texas was a net-loss state and ranked No. 39 on its list.

The survey results are also surprising in light of other surveys that show Austin is one of the most expensive cities to move to. Online moving company Movinga placed the first month’s moving costs at $1,533.39 in Austin, more than the cost for cities like Berlin, Germany and Vienna, Austria. Also, another report said that people are leaving Austin in droves, although it did note that people are moving into Austin at a fast clip as well. So don’t count on getting out of that traffic jam anytime soon. Just smile and wave.